The story behind Kiehl’s
Back in 1851, Kiehl’s was just a single apothecary in New York’s East Village created by John Kiehl. Instead of offering the same products as other pharmacies in the area, John wanted to help his customers achieve health and wellness through natural products like essential oils, homeopathic and herbal remedies. When Aaron Morse took over the company in 1950, he added grooming products for men and women to the brand’s product line. Today, Kiehl’s is a multi-million dollar company with stores located around the world. The brand still formulates products with mostly natural ingredients to treat the most common skin concerns, including acne, dry skin, dull complexion, enlarged pores, sensitive skin, signs of aging, and more.
What is Kiehl’s Facial Fuel?
Kiehl’s Facial Fuel is a men’s skin care collection that includes eight different products for the face, eyes, and lips. Many of the products in this skin care line are claimed to “energize” the skin or “revive and awaken” the skin. With these kind of marketing terms, you might be wondering how these Kiehl’s products can help your skin. Do they address signs of aging? Hyperpigmentation? Acne? All of the above? In order to determine how Kiehl’s Facial Fuel can help your skin, we will discuss the claims and the key ingredients for these products below.
What are the best selling Kiehl’s Facial Fuel products?
Out of the eight men’s skin care products in the line, the best selling Kiehl’s Facial Fuel products include the Eye De-Puffer, Energizing Face Wash, and Energizing Moisture Treatment.
Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Eye De-Puffer is a lightweight cooling eye stick that is said to help minimize under-eye puffiness. You can use this eye de-puffer in the morning, at night, or whenever you need it throughout the day.
Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Energizing Face Wash is a gel face wash that is said to remove debris, dirt, and oil while giving tired-looking, dull skin a fresher, healthier appearance. This face wash can be used both morning and night.
Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment is claimed to awaken fatigued and dull skin, as well as help it feel refueled, re-energized and revitalized. This moisturizer is said to absorb quickly and leave no residue behind. It can be used both morning and night.
What are the key ingredients in Kiehl’s Facial Fuel?
There are a few key ingredients that are used throughout the line of Kiehl’s Facial Fuel products, including caffeine, menthol, and vitamin E.
As a natural stimulant, caffeine causes vasoconstriction (constriction of the blood vessels) when applied to the skin. This function aids in reducing the amount of blood that accumulates under the eyes (a major factor that contributes to dark circles). Additionally, vasoconstriction can firm the skin due to the removal of excess fluids and possible stimulation of the lymphatic drainage system. Thus, eye creams that contain caffeine are thought to help reduce dark circles and puffiness.
The next key ingredient in several of the Kiehl’s Facial Fuel skin care products is menthol. You may be familiar with the characteristic minty taste and smell of menthol. In addition, you can probably recognize when menthol is applied to the skin because it produces an instant cooling effect. This is why menthol is used in topical analgesic (pain reliever) products. Rather than lowering the temperature of the skin, the cooling effect occurs when menthol blocks the calcium current along the nerves responsible for detecting temperature. The nerve endings translate a message to the brain that the skin is cooling. Menthol is also classified as a counterirritant. A counterirritant is a substance which creates irritation or mild inflammation in one location with the goal of lessening discomfort and/or inflammation in another location.
We know what you might be thinking: why would you want something that’s classified as an irritant in your skin care products? You see, Kiehl’s and many other brands include menthol in their products to provide an instant cooling effect to make you think that the product is producing a result. In reality, the only result that menthol provides is skin irritation!
The final key ingredient that is used throughout the Kiehl’s Facial Fuel line is vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps protect the skin by delivering a hydrogen atom to free radicals, which minimizes their damaging effects. Since vitamin E is fat-soluble, it is incorporated into cell membranes in order to protect from oxidative damage. This is important because free radicals contribute to signs of aging, such as fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.
One problem with the Kiehl’s Facial Fuel skin care products is that the formulas include very low concentrations of “key” ingredients. To make matters worse, many products include high concentrations of ingredients that have the potential to irritate and even damage skin, such as fragrance ingredients and denatured alcohol.
Where is Kiehl’s Facial Fuel sold?
Kiehl’s Facial Fuel is sold on the brand’s website, as well as third party ecommerce websites such as Amazon, eBay, Ulta, Sephora, and more. Kiehl’s also has over 2,000 retail locations in 61 countries. You can use the store locator on the brand’s website to find a location near you.
Is Kiehl’s cruelty free?
Kiehl’s is not cruelty free. Kiehl’s is owned by L’Oréal, a company that tests on animals. L’Oréal does not conduct animal testing on their products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law. Since L’Oréal products are sold in China, they must test their products on animals by law. The good news is that L’Oreal has invested more than $1 billion over the last 25 years to develop innovative, alternative methods to animal testing, particularly in the area of reconstructed tissue development. L’Oreal and Kiehl’s are committed to a future without tests on animals.
